Minister of Prisoners' Affairs: Palestinian prisoners are not terrorists or criminals

Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
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Apr. 17, 2011

“[Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs, Issa] Karake said: ‘We will go to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in order to extract recognition that that the Palestinian prisoners are prisoners of war, not criminals or terrorists, and their rights must be respected. We shall appeal to the [UN] General Assembly for a legal opinion, which will be binding on the International Court of Justice in The Hague, to protect the Palestinian prisoners and to call for the imposition of a legal siege on Israel.”

Note: 5,500 Palestinian prisoners are currently serving time in Israeli prisons for terror-related offenses. According to a report from the PA Ministry of Prisoner's Affairs, 792 prisoners are currently serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.